Great lineup for reunion, with or without Bonds

Published 4:00 am, Friday, August 8, 2008

Barry Bonds' representatives have spoken about a possible appearance Saturday, and their answer is a definite "we don't know."

Bonds is in Hawaii with his family. One of his public-relations people, Rachael Vizcarra, e-mailed Thursday to say, "Barry has been invited to the reunion at AT&T Park this weekend, but I'm sure you've heard he's on a family vacation, so we are not sure if his schedule will permit."

Vizcarra also has talked to the Giants. Staci Slaughter, the team's senior vice president of communications, remains hopeful.

"They haven't said no and they haven't said yes," Slaughter said. "If he does come, it might be a last-minute thing."

Manny in town: The Giants have lost 14 of their last 17 home games against the Dodgers. They get a chance to put a dent in that horrible number in a three-game series that begins tonight, but their task becomes a little tougher now that Manny Ramirez is wearing Dodger blue.

Ramirez has been a hitting machine since he came to Los Angeles a week ago. He is 13-for-23 with four home runs in six games. Alas, the Dodgers are 3-3.

Ramirez has played in San Francisco before. In fact, he homered at China Basin against Jerome Williams (now a Dodgers farmhand) in a June 18, 2004, interleague game. A wild game, that was. Boston hit five home runs and the Giants two in a 14-9 Red Sox victory.

Facing Ramirez tonight will be Barry Zito, a familiar foe from the American League. Ramirez has a career average of .214 in 28 regular-season at-bats against Zito, but three of his six hits are home runs. Zito has walked Ramirez 10 times and struck him out twice.

Their most meaningful meeting came in Game 5 of a 2003 Division Series. Ramirez hit a three-run homer against Zito that proved decisive in a 4-3 Red Sox victory that eliminated the A's from the postseason.

Zito has won three of his last four decisions, pitching eight shutout innings at San Diego in his most recent start. The first of those wins came against the Dodgers in San Francisco on July 5, when he struck out a season-high 10 in seven innings.

On the infield: For now, Ivan Ochoa is the starting shortstop and Emmanuel Burriss the second baseman. Is that a preview of the 2009 starting middle infield? The Giants' brass is asking the same question.

"It's very possible," manager Bruce Bochy said. "That's what we're doing now, taking a look at them. It's early, but I think they work well together, and they're getting some hits, too."

Ochoa is 11-for-36 (.306) with two doubles since his call-up. Burriss is batting .270 with five extra-base hits in 148 at-bats.